RED ROOMS (2023)

Les Chambres Rouges, Red Rooms (2023)
Directed by: Pascal Plante
Written by: Pascal Plante
Starring: Elisabeth Locas, Juliette Gariépy, Laurie Babin, Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, Natalie Tannous

RED ROOMS (2023)
aka Les Chambres Rouges
Written and Directed by Pascal Plante
French Language with English Subtitles
Red Rooms is in cinemas 6th September 2024

Ludovic Chevalier is on trial in Montreal for the brutal murders of three teenage girls, Kim, Justine and Camille.  The victims were sexually assaulted, tortured and dismembered by a masked man – an act which was live streamed in a ‘red room’ on the Dark Web, which users paid to watch. As the trial begins, the families of the victims must relive and endure the horrors that their daughters endured, but to make matters worse, the high profile case has attracted the attention of some unwanted groupies of the suspected serial killer.

A dark and deeply disturbing thriller that looks at the obsession with murderers and serial killers, RED ROOMS is a chilling exploration into the fascination and morbid curiosity of those who become infatuated with the case.

From addiction to watching true-crime documentaries to playing detective on the internet, the general public’s obsession with murder cases can sometimes be rather worrying. Unfortunately, we’ve seen it in the UK where a disappearance and death caused mass speculation online, with some people even travelling to the last known location to do their own investigations, and publicly accusing people of the disappearance, causing much upset to the family as a result. Whilst people often have an opinion, or might discuss with friends and family, about a murder case, most people leave it at that. They don’t travel to court to be present at the murder trial nor do they go to the lengths that some of the characters in RED ROOMS go to… but I can believe there are those out there that do, much like the film’s characters, Kelly-Anne and Clementine.

To look at her purely from her appearance, Kelly-Anne seems respectable and professional, but from the minute we realise that she spends her night sleeping on the street despite having a posh, modern apartment located at a flashy skyscraper, overlooking the city, we know that she’s not quite right. Between her modelling job and passion for professional poker playing online, this is a young woman who’s not skint yet spends her time rough-sleeping in order to be first in line for the trial of the Demon of Rosemont, Ludovic Chevalier. That alone rings bells. Her appearance is in contrast to Clementine’s baggy and slightly-dishevelled appearance, having travelled across the country with purpose, almost like a pilgrimage, to support the man she worships as he faces the court, the victims’ parents and the jury. Despite their appearances, both young women are there with the same intention: to shoe-horn themselves into a situation that has nothing to do with them, to disrespectfully exploit the grief of others for their own satisfaction and agenda.

Plante expertly showcases the differences between the two women. Clementine is obsessed with Chevalier. She’s so captivated by the accused that she publicly talks to the local news outlets proclaiming how Chevalier is innocent and that all the evidence pointing to him could have been fabricated or used to frame him for the crime. She’s blinded by her passion and infatuation for the man, almost treating him like an idol or worshipping him like their favourite popstar, that in the face of any true evidence against him she promptly brushes off and explains away with one of her fantastical theories. Kelly-Anne, on the other hand, is quiet. You can’t read her at all and figure out why she’s turning up, day-in, day-out, to attend the trial. Compared to Clementine, she appears quite stable, but what she gets up to on her computer at home is deeply worrying as she obsesses over the details of the case, probing into the lives of those involved, such as Camille’s distraught mother. What is her agenda – is she just caught by curiosity by the whole murder case or is it something more sinister?

It’s hard not to watch RED ROOMS without a feeling of disgust and horror. From the opening of the trial as the Crown Prosecutor details the murders of the three young girls to the actions the main characters take, it’s awful and frightening in equal measure. For the most part, the actions of the killer are merely described. Thankfully there’s only a short shot in the film of a blood-splattered room from one of the recordings of the killings, but there is some audio of the recordings of the victims screaming as they’re being tortured that is enough to send you pale. The brief audio clips and the descriptions of what the victims were subjected too are more than enough for your mind to fill in the gaps and paint a horrifying picture of the ordeal, so much so that Kelly-Anne’s subsequent actions are even more unsettling and distressing to watch unfold.

Writer/director Pascal Plante has crafted a visceral piece of cinema, that intrigues and fascinates as much as it distresses and disturbs. It’s by no means an easy watch but I think it manages to highlight worrisome behaviour and the exploitation of the misfortune of others – whether that’s through members of the public getting themselves involved or through sensationalised media.

With stunning cinematography and solid performances from Juliette Gariépy, Laurie Babin, Elisabeth Locas and Natalie Tannous, RED ROOMS is a slow-burn psychological thriller cum courtroom drama that certainly leaves its mark.

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